USS Quincy (CA-71)

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USS Quincy (CA-71) in the Pacific 1952–1954
USS Quincy (CA-71) in the Pacific 1952–1954
Overview
Shipyard

Fore River Shipyard

Keel laying October 9, 1941
Launch June 23, 1943
1. Period of service flag
Commissioning December 15, 1943
Decommissioning 2nd July 1954
Whereabouts Wrecked in 1974
Technical specifications
displacement

13,600 ts

length

205.26 m

width

21.59 m

Draft

6.25 m

crew

1142

speed

Maximum speed: 33 kn

Armament
  • 9 × 8 "/ 55 guns (3 × 3)
  • 12 × 5 "/ 38 guns (6 × 2)
  • 48 × 40 mm flak (12 × 4)
  • 24 × 20 mm flak (24 × 1)

The USS Quincy (CA-71) was a Baltimore-class heavy cruiser of the United States Navy . She was the third ship of that name.

The Quincy was commissioned on June 17, 1940, the keel-laying took place on June 17, 1940 in Quincy (Massachusetts) at the Fore River Shipyard of Bethlehem Steel under the name of St. Paul . On October 16, 1942, the name was changed to Quincy after the second USS Quincy of the US Navy was sunk on August 9, 1942 in the battle of Savo Island . The baptism was performed on 23 June 1943 by Mrs. Henry S. Morgan, daughter of Charles Francis Adams . The commissioning took place on December 15, 1943 in the dry dock of South Boston Massachusetts with Captain Elliot M. Senn.

history

Second World War

After the test drive in the Gulf of Paria between Trinidad and Venezuela, the new cruiser was assigned to Task Force 22 on March 27, 1944, where the crew was trained in Casco Bay, Maine. This was followed by a ferry trip to Belfast , where they arrived on May 14th and were assigned to the commander of the 12th Fleet. General Dwight D. Eisenhower , Supreme Commander Allied (Expeditionary) Force, accompanied by Rear Adm. Alan G. Kirk , inspected the ship in Belfast Lough on May 15, 1944.

From May 20th, the crew began a journey to Greenock in Scotland, where special training in land target fire began. She then returned to Belfast Lough and began final preparations for the invasion of Europe. At 5:37 a.m. on June 6, 1944, as part of Task Force 125, the Quincy attacked coastal batteries on the right flank of Utah Beach .

Between June 6 and 17, enemy mobile batteries and concentrations of tanks, trucks and soldiers were fought with gunfire using reconnaissance aircraft . In addition to shooting counter-battery fire , the USS Quincy also supported the capture of Quinéville on June 12, 1944.

She was then transferred to the Isle of Portland, where she joined Task Force 129 on June 21. She left Portland on June 24th for Cherbourg in France. The bombardment of the batteries in the vicinity of the city began at 12:07 p.m. in connection with the army attack. 19 of the 21 primary targets assigned to the Quincy by the task force were successfully neutralized or destroyed, allowing troops to capture the city on the same day.

The heavy cruiser continued to Mers-el-Kebir in North Africa on July 4th, where it arrived on July 10th. USS Quincy continued to Palermo, Sicily, on July 16; they arrived two days later. Up to July 26th, the land target shelling in the Gulf of Policastro was practiced there. From July 27 to August 13, the USS Quincy took part in exercises on Malta and Camarota, Italy.

On the afternoon of August 13th, she drove four British cruisers, one French cruiser and four US destroyers to the south coast of France, where they arrived on August 15th to provide support fire to the 3rd US Army for three days . On August 24th they fired on the heavy batteries in Toulon, St. Mandrier and Cape Sicié. She also supported the following mine clearance operations from August 24 in the area around Marseille.

On September 1, it was decided to bring the USS Quincy back to Boston, where it arrived a week later. She stayed in Boston for overhauls and installation of new equipment until October 31, when training began at Casco Bay. After being overhauled in Boston for a presidential ride, the USS Quincy headed for Hampton Roads on November 16 .

On January 23, 1945, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his companions came on board and the crossing to Malta began, which was reached on February 2. After several meetings with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and other dignitaries during the Malta Conference , which took place on the Quincy, President Roosevelt flew from there to the Crimean Peninsula for the Yalta Conference .

Ibn Saud and Franklin D. Roosevelt seated aboard the USS Quincy on February 14, 1945, with William Daniel Leahy on the far left

The USS Quincy left Malta on February 6 and arrived in the bitter lakes in the Suez Canal two days later . The President and his companions came on board again on February 12, and the next day Farouk I , King of Egypt and Haile Selassie , Emperor of Ethiopia were received. President Roosevelt received Ibn Saud , King of Saudi Arabia on February 14th. Several bilateral agreements have been signed between Saudi Arabia and the US, including: a. the protection of the oil wells was assured by the USA. After a phone call in Alexandria and a final meeting with British Prime Minister Churchill, the USS Quincy drove to Algiers, where it arrived on February 18. After a presidential conference with the American ambassadors in Great Britain, France and Italy, the return journey to the United States began, where the arrival at Newport News took place on February 27th.

The heavy cruiser departed from Hampton Roads on March 5th and arrived in Pearl Harbor on March 20th . After an exercise in the Pearl Harbor area, the USS Quincy sailed via Eniwetok to Ulithi , where it joined the 5th Fleet on April 1st. She left Ulithi for two days and joined Lloyd J. Wiltse's Cruiser Division 10, which was under Marc Andrew Mitschers Task Force 58 . From April 16, the USS Quincy assisted the aircraft carriers in their attacks on Okinawa, Amami gunto and Minami Daito Shima. She returned to Ulithi on April 30th with Task Force units.

With units of the TF-58, the Quincy Ulithi left on May 9th for east of Kyushu, where on May 12th it supported carrier attacks against Amami gunto and Kyushu. Furthermore, attacks against Okinawa, Tokuno Shima, Kikai Jima, Amami gunto and Asumi gunto were supported with artillery fire until the task force returned to the base on June 13th.

During the overhaul and maintenance on Leyte, Rear Admiral Wiltse, commander of Cruiser Division 10 (ComCruDiv 10) came on board, and on July 1st the cruiser went with Task Force 38 to the Japanese islands, where it was until the end of hostilities Carried out attacks on Honshu, Hokkaido, Shikoku and the Tokyo area.

The USS Quincy was then assigned to the Support Force on August 23, where it helped occupy Sagami-Wan four days later and entered Tokyo Bay on September 1. Rear Admiral Wiltse carried his flag on the USS Vicksburg (CL-86) on September 17 , and Quincy joined Task Force 53 of the 5th Fleet on September 20 while it was in Tokyo Bay.

Korean War

Quincy was decommissioned on October 19, 1946 at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton. She was assigned to the Pacific Reserve Fleet until January 31, 1952, when she was assigned to the US 7th Fleet in support of United Nations forces in Korea. After restoration of operational readiness, it reached the coast of Korea on July 25, 1953 and served there until December 1, 1953. On July 2, 1954, it was decommissioned again. The USS Quincy was sold to the American Ship Dismantling Co. of Portland on September 1, 1974 for $ 1,156,667.66 .

literature

Web links

Commons : USS Quincy  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files